Perelman Offers Families Assistance Program

November 20, 2013

Perelman Jewish Day School is launching a new financial assistance program aimed at helping families who make too much to qualify for other aid packages but still struggle to afford the private school tuition.

Families who make an adjusted gross income of between $150,000 and $350,000 and want to enroll at the elementary school, which has campuses in Melrose Park and Wynnewood, are eligible for the new grants. This year, tuition costs between $15,000 and $20,000, depending on the grade.

The program is open to both new and current families. Parents can receive grants annually ranging from $1,800 to $30,000 depending on their income and the number of children they send to the school. For example, a family that makes $150,000 to $175,000 annually could qualify for a $5,000 grant if they enroll one child or a $20,000 grant if they enroll two.

Money for the program is coming from funding that Perelman got as part of the agreement to merge its Saligman Middle School with the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy middle school in Bryn Mawr, according to school president Tracey Specter.

Perelman is projecting that the financial assistance will attract additional children to boost enrollment and that, by the fourth year of the program, it will be self-sufficient, according to Specter.

The school is also introducing a $5,000 incentive grant for new families enrolling for the first year through its Cozen Scholars Program, which is funded by Sandy and Steve Cozen. The income qualifications for the Cozen program are the same as for tuition affordability grants.